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Marketing Monday: The U2Charist

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Hey again! It’s Monday which means that, it’s time to talk about some interesting marketing that I’ve seen lately and see what you guys think about it.

Remember last week when I told you to always keep your eyes open for great marketing? Where I found this week’s marketing example is a little unusual. I found it at church. But, before I get harassed about it – let me tell you one thing.

Churches ARE Businesses.

They need to bring in a constant supply of money if they want to do things like…

1. Pay a minister and staff.

2. Pay electricity bills.

3. Do mission work – trips, soup kitchens, etc.

4. Advertise – to bring in new members.

And, that’s just a few of their expenses.

So, they’re constantly brainstorming how to get new members and new money – just like we are in our businesses. They’ve got to figure out what their USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is compared to other denominations – AND compared to other churches in the community that are the same denomination.

WHAT makes them special? HOW can they stand out if they want to bring in enough money to do amazing things and help their community?

Hopefully in our businesses we’re thinking the same thing.

This is what I ask myself on a regular basis:

What makes me special and my business unique?

How can I best help others while making the web a better place?

By doing the above how can I most effectively and efficiently create enough abundance for myself that I can share more and more with others to make the world a better place?

So, what’s this all about? My friend, Sheila, called me on Thursday and asked if I wanted to go to the 11 oclock service at our church and then go to the Gulf of Mexico for brunch. I’d been slack in going to church for a bit, and said “Sure”.

She then proceeded to tell me that it was the U2charist. That’s where she lost me.

She said “You know, U2, right?”

I said “The Band?”.

She said “Yes, our Banner band at church is going to be playing the music of U2 during the service.”

THEN I was intrigued. 🙂 I thought “What the heck?! I’ve gotta see this.”

So, we planned to go to the 11 oclock service. She said “Get there early. Last time they did it, it was packed !” Was it ever!

The U2Charist.

Here’s a scan of a few pages of the church program for the service. I thought you’d enjoy it.

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Comments

Love this!! I see so many of those same things at church (and many other places too). Our pastor will often do series’ of messages. Well, each message is a tease for the next. So, it’s drip marketing. You can’t miss the next sermon because you will miss the important lesson that will change your life. And he often refers back to previous messages.

And, oh em gee, I just realized something! They also record the sermons. So, you can hear it live or you can download the sermon to your mp3 (or get a cd for a small fee). The thing they are missing are transcripts. Hmmm, I guess I should suggest that one! HA

Very good post. I got me thinking, not for my business but for my choir. We are in dire need of new members, active ones, too who want to participate in the choir actively. I’ll get the “What makes us special and our choir unique-question” to the “managing board”. Thanks for that push 😉
Xarah

Nic-
I was totally stuck on U2 charist and how the heck to say it– then I realized it’s Eucharist with U@ in front — very clever naming! (Takes me longer than most sometimes!! LOL).

So one other thing you forgot to mention was having a memorable name for their branded product. Sure there are bunches of Methodist churches and I don’t even remember the name of this one unless I scrolled up to see it, but U2charist is definitely memorable. For people to remember your product or service, you’ve got to name it something catchy and distinctive.

In fact your site “Nicole on the Net” is catchy, distinctive, memorable and is about you all in one short phrase. So here you are again practicing what you preach (good metaphor for this post, right!? 😉 )

This was so over the top in cool, We should all see light bulbs going off in our Heads.This is a Great pr. Perhaps a lesson for NAMS7
I don’t get to Church near as often as I get to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) for Brunch, maybe I should get out and about on Sundays more often.
Thanks for sharing, I will bookmark this page, to remind myself that thinking out side the box, means moving completely away from the box sometimes.
oh, and Hi from Wisconsin.

When Robert Caldini researched for his book – Influence and Psychology of Persuasion he studied churches and charity organizations to see how they operated and how they got their message across to people.

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My mission: To help busy online marketers, specifically infoproduct sellers, to build sustainable online businesses that help them reach their financial and lifestyle goals while making both the web and the world a better place. And, hopefully having a lot of fun while doing it!